For Apple, Does X Mark The Spot?

With the iPhone X finally making its way into consumers' hands, is Apple Inc AAPL's super-cycle upgrade what it was cracked up to be?

The Analyst

UBS' Steven Milunovich maintains a Buy rating on Apple with a $190 price target.

The Thesis

"This is the first time since the iPhone 6/6+ form factor where you get an iPhone that truly feels like a big step up," Ben Bajarin, director of consumer technology practice at Creative Strategies, told Milunovich. (See Milunovich's track record here.) 

Bajarin was one of the first to receive an iPhone X, and his firm regularly conducts smartphone studies and research. 

“The interest that we’re seeing around the iPhone X is because of the fact that it looks and feels like a whole new generation and era of iPhone. That’s really exciting for the market."

A recent smartphone study conducted by Creative Strategies found that 30 percent of existing Android owners are intending to switch to an iPhone, with half of that number citing the iPhone X as the reason why they are switching, according to UBS. 

With average selling prices continuing to trend upward, smartphone ownership is slowly lengthening as well. Similar to how people often spend more on PCs knowing that they are going to using them for several years, the same phenomenon is becoming true for the smartphone market, according to UBS. 

Creative Strategies' Bajarin said: “Ownership is slowly lengthening in every market that we look at." 

Customers view phones as investments and could spend two to three years with them, Bajarin said. They "want the best because they know how valuable it is to their life." 

At first take, judging by demand and consumer response, it appears the iPhone X appears to live up to the hype.

Price Action

Apple shares are down 1 percent on Tuesday, trading at $171.95 at last check.

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Photo courtesy of Apple.